If you’re an equestrian and spent lots of time around horses, you know how special they are. The horse-human relationship is unlike any other. Horses have been our companions, our therapists, our legs, our confidantes, our brothers-in-arms, our partners-in-crime, our dreams, and our healers. They are, indeed, life-changing. Horses move us and truly understand our intentions and boundaries. They can also move us emotionally by being quite adamant and true to themselves in showing us what they feel and notice at the moment. Below we have prepared a list with 10 reasons that show how horses have changed our life for better.
1.You wake up with a goal: Waking up in the morning can be very difficult, but when you own a horse you are thankful for, you prefer to spend the extra hours of sleep to be with your horse. Each day with your horse is a present, and you find profound faith in taking care of and riding your horse.
2.You aim to be a better human for your horse: Every horse owner has had moments where they reacted in a way they weren’t proud of while riding, or even during usual barn chores. In order to treat your horse the way they deserve, you will spend a significant amount of time working on becoming a better rider and horseman. You will likely take lessons and spend hours practicing your sport to assure that you’re worthy of your equine companion.
3.You become an altruist: It’s hard to find a selfish horse person because they will leave everything in their life behind just to take care of their horse. They will stay up all night if their horse is ill, skip a meal to make the drive to purchase more hay and sacrifice buying items for themselves so that new tack can be purchased. Horse owners quickly learn that life doesn’t revolve around them, and this lesson carries over into all aspects of life.
4.You learn the importance of work: No part of horse ownership is easy. There are always costs, stalls need to be washed, water buckets need rubbing, hooves need trimming, and the right balance of feed needs to be defined and estimated often. Besides that, riding itself is one of the most challenging sports. There will be days where it feels like you will never reach your riding goals, but grit will keep you going. You will learn that you didn’t choose an easy lifestyle, but it makes it all the more rewarding when your perseverance pays off.
5.You learn genuine love and trust: There’s no better feeling than when you pull into your driveway, or the place you board, hop out of your car and see your horse calmly waiting for you. It’s hard to understand the bond between a horse and owner, but it’s life-changing if you have experienced it.
6.Horses understand our feelings
Horses can mirror our emotions even if they are unconscious of doing so. This can be helpful especially for people who are introverts and can’t open up to anyone.
7.Horses Challenge us in many ways
Horses don’t care what we or others think of them. They give us immediate feedback. They can react to the most detailed changes in our emotions, spirit, and aim very quickly. They live right in the moment and challenge us to do the same.
8.Horses Change us for better
We can become more aware of our state of mind and emotions and identify how our body language, mental health, and energy affects us and others around us. Wecan learn how to overcome barriers and become more efficient leaders or achieve our dreams. This is a new understanding that we take back into our everyday life.
9.Experience new thing with horses
Horses get us outside of our homes and offices and put us back into ‘nature’. There are so many ways horses make us experience new things and lead us to reconnect with ourselves at the moment and to be in the here and now, a fundamental element for people who are dealing with depression and anxiety.
10.Horses Show You
We can’t fake it in front of horses. We can’t pretend, we can’t lie. They can tell immediately if we are not feeling well and something is going wrong with our life. Once we discover with our true feelings and emotions, once we learn to connect to our authentic self and become more congruent, the changes are immediately visible and the horse responds accordingly.
